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Humanitarian Technology in Service-Learning

Humanitarian technology is meant to improve the lives of the global underprivileged through the implementation of effective yet affordable technology. Innovation does not need to entail the invention of an entirely new technology: making an existing technology more affordable and/or useable in new settings and situations can be just as effective.

 

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Humanitarian technology can be effectively integrated into Service-Learning to broaden students' perspective on global grand challenges, and provide them with creative confidence and the skillset to make a difference. For instance, in the Service-Learning courses CLC9019 Policy and Technology for Urban and Rural Sustainability and CLA9021 Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Global Grand Challenges offered by OSL, students are encouraged to design solutions for contemporary global issues by rethinking what can be done with current technology.

 

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In one Service-Learning project, Lingnan students designed an affordable air purifier for subdivided flat inhabitants after meeting with underprivileged community members and discovering that bad air quality was one of their daily concerns. By using low-cost materials, these students were able to make a working, inexpensive prototype, which serves as the basis for a future product that will improve the lives of many people who are stuggling daily with bad air-quality.

 

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